Add to your viewing experience by reading these essential comics!

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You’ve seen Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War and you’re ready for more? You’re not alone. Luckily you can dive into the source material to tide you over before meeting up with Thanos again on the big screen next year.

Fascinated with Death, Thanos has always been focused to the point of delusion. See how this recurring desire always seems to comes into play when dealing with the Mad Titan. Here are 7 notable reads that are sure to enhance your Avengers: Infinity War viewing experience.

THANOS QUEST #1-2 (1990)

Jim Starlin and Ron Lim

Thanos Quest (1990) #1

If you’re going to do a deep dive into the world of Thanos, you might as well start with the man who created him, Jim Starlin. This is Thanos’ origin story, the whys and hows of his Infinity Stone obsession are explained, as is his unending fascination with Death, herself.

Marvel Cinematic Universe spotlight: Fans will be intrigued by story arcs featuring the Collector and the Grandmaster and get to meet more of the Elders of the Universe along the way.

THE INFINITY GAUNTLET #1-6 (1991)

Jim Starlin and George Perez

Infinity Gauntlet (1991) #1

Thanos just can’t get Death off his mind. The consequences of a love spurned is the decimation of half the population with just the snap of his fingers. The aftermath of his uncontainable rage is an intergalactic battle full of intrigue and betrayal.

Marvel Cinematic Universe spotlight: Doctor Strange and Nebula are key to this story, as is the alluring Soul Stone.

ANNIHILATION (2006)

Keith Giffen and Andrea Di Vito

Annihilation (2006) #1

ANNIHILATION is an epic crossover that brings together several characters from across the Marvel Cosmic Universe. If you’re looking for a space opera with a blurred line between heroes and villains, this is the adventure for you.

Marvel Cinematic Universe spotlight: Appearances by the Nova Corps, Ronan the Accuser, Star-Lord, and Drax the Destroyer with a slight change to his appearance from his film version.

THANOS IMPERATIVE (2010)

Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Miguel Angel Sepulveda

The Thanos Imperative (2010) #1

The epic culmination of the ANNIHILATION storyline, this follows the Guardians as they deal with Thanos, who is the avatar of Death, while Lord Mar-Vell is the avatar of Life. You can guess how this is going to go, they aren’t exactly going to share pleasantries over tea.

Marvel Cinematic Universe note: This is the first appearance of Lord Mar-Vell—an alternate version of Captain Marvel.

Thanos Rising (2013) #1

Here’s how it all began—his tragic birth, oddly passive childhood, and a whole lot of gruesome killings, all leading up becoming the insane Dark Lord we know and love today. To say this is an extremely dark book is putting it mildly. You’ve been warned.

Flashback Friday: Captain Mar-vell

See how a Kree warrior went from spying on Earth to protecting it!

Every Friday we use the powers of Marvel Unlimited to look back at the very first appearance of a major character, place or object that made waves this week.

For legions of readers, the name Captain Marvel instantly leads to images of Carol Danvers flying around, punching bad guys and being generally awesome. However, as many longtime fans know, she’s but the latest in a line of characters to use that name at the House of Ideas.

The first debuted in 1967’s MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #12 by Stan Lee and Gene Colan. Seeing as how Carol teamed up with the earlier Captain Mar-Vell in this week’s GENERATIONS: THE MIGHTY, it seemed like the perfect time to look back at the latter’s origins.

Marvel Super-Heroes (1967) #12

As the issue opened, a Kree ship approached Earth with Colonel Yon-Rogg in charge. He ordered Captain Mar-Vell to head planetside even though it flew in the face of protocol. Even though he and his medic-girlfriend Una thought the colonel planned on betraying Mar-Vell, he did his duty and continued on the mission.

Decked out with a protective green and white suit, emerald helmet, air-ject belt, universal beam blaster and a potion that allowed him to breathe Earth air for an hour at a time, the captain leapt into action.

Thanks to his own remembrances, we came to understand what brought him to Earth: the destruction of Kree Sentry #459 as seen in the pages of FANTASTIC FOUR #64 plus Ronan’s defeat by the FF in the following issue!

Fantastic Four (1961) #64

Almost immediately, Mar-Vell stumbled upon a missile test that went sideways. While searching for the cause of the failure, the operators quickly discovered Cap’s presence and set out to investigate. Not wanting to threaten his mission, he ran away, changed into Earth clothes, hitched a ride and got himself a room at a nearby hotel.

There, the colonel teleported a wrist monitor onto Mar-Vell. He then received a message from the Imperial Minister of the Supreme Intelligence that he would be the new Kree agent on Earth. Only success would be tolerated, failure would result in death.

Literally flying solo on a strange planet with no back-up, Captain Mar-Vell continued his adventures in the following issue, written by Roy Thomas where he not only took on the identity of Walter Lawson, but also met Carol Danvers in her first appearance. From there he transitioned into a solo series, CAPTAIN MARVEL, which ran from 1968 to 1979. Three years later, in MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL: THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN MARVEL, the world lost a hero as the Kree warrior succumbed to cancer that started developing thanks to his battle with Nitro in CAPTAIN MARVEL #34.

Captain Marvel (1968) #34

Not counting time travel and Vanishing Points, Captain Mar-Vell continues to be one of the few dead heroes who hasn’t come back. During Civil War, though, it seemed like he’d come back from the dead as seen in CIVIL WAR: THE RETURN. That version of Mar-Vell continued on in five issue CAPTAIN MARVEL series which eventually crossed into Secret Invasion and revealed that the Skrull Khn’nr had been masquerading as the beloved character. It turned out that his mental programming failed and the Mar-Vell identity actually took over, so even after learning the truth about himself, he remained loyal to Earth and fought against the Skrulls. After fighting a losing battle that eventually killed him, he crossed paths with Noh-Varr and encouraged him to carry on the legacy of Captain Marvel which he did in the pages of DARK AVENGERS.

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Meet the Marvels: A Generations Sketchbook

Published Aug 23, 2017
By Tj Dietsch

Brent Schoonover depicts the historic meeting of two Captains Marvel!

On September 13, GENERATIONS: CAPTAIN MARVEL & CAPTAIN MAR-VELL by Margaret Stohl and Brent Schoonover will bring together two characters very familiar with one another. Though she would become Ms. Marvel and then Captain Marvel herself later on, Carol Danvers first appeared in MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #13 which Mar-Vell starred in. In fact, she gained her powers in part thanks to an exploding Kree device that laid her up for a while but also restructured her genes combining the best of the two races.

The GENERATIONS issue will use the characters’ history together while also reintroducing readers to a hero who hasn’t really been active since his demise in 1982’s DEATH OF CAPTAIN MARVEL. We talked with Schoonover about the similarities and differences between the two Captains, not to mention the fun of exploring Mar-Vell’s past and helping chronicle Carol’s future.

Marvel.com: Captain Mar-Vell is one of those classic Marvel characters who modern readers haven’t really experienced in new stories. How was it for you getting into this adventure featuring him?

Brent Schoonover: It was fun [because] it was a character that I was familiar with but not totally knowledgeable about. I had an old copy of DEATH OF CAPTAIN MARVEL as it’s just a classic story and a gorgeous book. But I wanted to learn more so I got the Marvel Essential volumes one and two of [the original CAPTAIN MARVEL series]. I really enjoyed checking those out and realized how early on in the birth of the Marvel age of the 60s that the character came around, as well as how early Carol played a part in the book. So it was fun doing the research aspect on a character I enjoyed but had never really gone and done extensive reading on.

Marvel.com: There’s a really cool continuity in costume design from Mar-Vell to Carol. How was it using those elements on the page?

Brent Schoonover: It was neat. I think the Hala star is so cool and iconic. It’s kind of up there with a lighting bolt and a skull in terms on a great graphic to put on a hero’s uniform. My approach on this was I kind of wanted them to each look like they were from different eras. So there’s even some small subtle ways I illustrated each one to give a sense of time difference.

Carol is done in a more contemporary approach and her uniform is a based on the currently used look that is more practical and not really flashy. Mar-Vell is just based in late 60s/early 70s super hero looks. I got his sideburns in there. Wavy 70s hair. No seams on the costume. Very swashbuckling. But the cool thing is once you put that star on the chest it ties it all together. They look and feel connected. That’s the great power of a strong symbol.

Marvel.com: In addition to their looks, the Captains Marvel also both share a military background. How does that play into the way you pose them?

Brent Schoonover: [Laughs] They are both always at attention. Straight up. Strong. Confident. Walk in front like a leader. Neither of these characters lack confidence. Neither one is the sidekick in this story. I think they both access a room or situation the same. Jump into action without missing a beat.

Marvel.com: This duo is also just as interesting for their differences as their similarities. How differently do they carry themselves when it comes down to fighting the enemy?

Brent Schoonover: There’s a great scene where Carol sort of lashes out about an injustice to a citizen on this alien planet. She’s got a good reason but Mar-Vell tries to keep her in check by reminding her that it’s a community that avoids physical altercation at all cost and it’s accustomed to the stuff that they have been through. It’s a nice interaction that shows some of the slight differences in the two Captains. Carol maybe is a bit more heart-on-her-sleeve where Mar-Vell may be a bit more tactical in his approach to everything. There [are] pros and cons to each approach and it’s addressed in a few cool scenes in the book. Carol’s a little more quick to act where Mar-Vell is more likely to react.

Marvel.com: Thanks to her work on MIGHTY CAPTAIN MARVEL, Margaret’s got a solid handle on Carol. You two even worked on issue #4 together. What was it like collaborating with her on this issue?

Brent Schoonover: It was great. I had been reading MIGHTY CAPTAIN MARVEL before chipping in on issue #4 and really liked her approach on the character. Once my time ended on that issue I was hoping to get a chance to draw Carol again. She’s just too much fun to draw. Thankfully [editors] Sana [Amanat] and Charles [Beacham] asked me to work on this.

I always find the character to be at her best when she’s convicted with doing what’s right over doing what is proper protocol, a clash of her military background and her role as a super hero. And I think Margaret did a great job finding Mar-Vell’s voice in the story as well. I was curious before I got the script if this was going to feel like one of the character’s story and the other may play a supporting role. It was awesome to see that this issue really felt like both Captains got equal amounts of story time. So if you are an older Captain Mar-Vell fan or a member of the Carol Corps, I think there’s a lot in this issue for you to be excited about.

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Thanos By Jim Starlin: The Road To Revelation

Published Aug 6, 2014
By Brett White

The Road To Revelation

Check out Starlin's greatest hits before picking up the new Thanos original graphic novel!

Few creators have made as big of an impact on the cosmic corner of Marvel Comics as Jim Starlin has. As the creator of characters like Gamora and Drax, as well as one of the brains behind Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock’s biggest adventures, his contribution to the current state of Marvel’s cosmic line of comics can only be measured with the word “immeasurable.” We haven’t even touched on Starlin’s biggest and baddest creation in his four decades of work—Thanos!

The writer/artist returns to one of his earliest creations this week in THANOS: THE INFINITY REVELATION. But before you crack open the all-new 100 page epic, featuring appearances by everyone from the Guardians of the Galaxy to the Annihilators, check out these highlights from Starlin’s long history with the Mad Titan!

Iron Man (1968) #55

Thanos debuts alongside Drax in this unlikely adventure from Starlin’s brief run on IRON MAN. The armored Avenger travels to Titan, one of Saturn’s moons that just so happens to be home to an entire race of technologically advanced beings—including a vengeful, prune-chinned bad guy named Thanos! The feud between Drax and Thanos kicks off here, and continues for the next few decades.

The creator’s work with Thanos continued when he soared over to CAPTAIN MARVEL. The Kree hero first clashed with the Mad Titan not long after Starlin took over the book. Thanos’ mad mission: to steal the reality-altering Cosmic Cube and thus gain total power over the universe!

Warlock (1972) #10

Thanos next began to torment Adam Warlock when he began his career as a headlining hero. This time around, the Titan brought his adopted daughter Gamora with him, pitting the deadliest woman in the galaxy against Warlock’s strange abilities—until the trio had to become unlikely allies against the might of Magus!

Avengers Annual (1967) #7

Starlin’s original Thanos story reached its cataclysmic conclusion in the pages of AVENGERS ANNUAL #7, wherein the purple one sought to rejoin his ladylove Death by using the Infinity Stones to destroy himself—along with a few billion other beings. The combined might of the Avengers and Starlin’s previous leading men—Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock—proved enough to prevent the end of the universe.

Silver Surfer (1987) #35

Thanos returned to prominence again in SILVER SURFER #34, and had his first interaction with the title hero in the following issue. The 22-page pep talk laid out Thanos’ new plan for universal destruction, and gave the Surfer a new mission: stop the villain at all costs.

Thanos Quest (1990) #1

The appropriately named THANOS QUEST limited series depicted the Mad Titan’s, well, quest to claim all six Infinity Stones for himself once more. Of course, the stones already belonged to other beings that regretted ever ending up in Thanos’ crosshairs.

Infinity Gauntlet (1991) #1

Starlin once again elevated Thanos to a cosmic-level threat in this milestone limited series. Every hero on Earth had to band together to stop Thanos from doing the one thing he believed would impress Death—killing everything.

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From Hala To Xander: Mapping Out Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy

Published Jul 31, 2014
By Brett White

Mapping Out Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy

Check out 5 of the extraterrestrial hotspots featured in Marvel's latest feature film!

“Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy” leaves our home planet’s orbit and spreads the mighty Marvel ethos to previously unseen corners of the universe. For those of you curious to learn more about the comic book origins of the intergalactic destinations featured in the big screen romp, we’ve compiled a list containing the debut appearances of five of “Guardians of the Galaxy’s” hotspots!

1. HALA

Captain Marvel (1968) #1

The Kree homeworld first appeared right near the dawn of Marvel’s cosmic line of comics. Mere months after meeting Kree aliens like Captain Mar-Vell and Ronan the Accuser, Marvel fans got a glimpse of their home planet Hala. This planet’s as known for its architectural marvels and scientific prowess as it is for its civil wars and social unrest.

2. XANDAR

Nova (1976) #1

As the homeplanet of the Nova Corps, Xandar has been at the center of a number of hostile encounters and full-on wars. The planet even faced utter annihilation at the hands of Nebula, only to be reconstructed by the Nova corpsman called Richard Rider. But Nova ultimately could not save the planet, as it met its end during the cataclysmic Annihilation event.

3. THE KYLN

Thanos (2003) #7

Where do you put the biggest, baddest criminals in the galaxy? You toss them into the Kyln and throw away the key! This prison has held everyone from Star-Lord to Thanos within its cells–and it’s suffered greatly for it. Seriously, no structure can contain the might of Thanos; the Kyln’s destroyed remains attest to that fact.

The ultimate example of recycling, the giant space station called Knowhere exists in the severed head of a Celestial. The ramshackle setup serves as a trading post, hideout, and haven for misfits and runaways–and it even housed the Guardians of the Galaxy for a while.

5. MORAG IV

Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar (2007) #3

Morag IV makes its film debut following a brief appearance during the Annihilation: Conquest event. The remote planet’s barren surface played host to a throw down between Quasar and Moondragon against the Super-Adaptoid and the Phalanx. The brave inhabitants of Morag IV even joined in the fight, giving the two proto-Guardians a help with their spears and shields.

See these planets come to life when “Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy” arrives in theaters on August 1st!

Take Flight with Captain Marvel Pt. 1

Kelly Sue DeConnick looks back on her original plan for Carol Danvers' big debut and more in this exclusive commentary!

Try as hard as you can, you just can’t keep Captain Marvel down.

This Wednesday marks Carol Danvers’ big return in the all-new CAPTAIN MARVEL #1. Writer Kelly Sue DeConnick resumes her role as Carol’s co-pilot, with new series artist David Lopez strapped in tight and ready for the hero’s next out-of-this-world adventure. For everybody boarding the good ship Captain Marvel for the first time, we’ve conducted an extensive interview with Kelly Sue DeConnick about the previous volume of Carol’s series.

Captain Marvel (2012) #1

First we’ll be running through CAPTAIN MARVEL (2012) #1-8, which followed Carol as she promoted herself from Ms. Marvel to Captain Marvel and went on a time-traveling adventure that saw her playing a hand in her own origin story.

Marvel.com: CAPTAIN MARVEL’s first arc brought back a lot of Carol’s old supporting cast. Some people, like Tracy Burke, we hadn’t seen in a long time. What inspired you to bring them back?

Kelly Sue DeConnick: Yeah, it wasn’t anything more than my [being] selfish. I love Tracy. Tracy’s hilarious. There’s a part of me that does have an overt agenda to push things like depictions of female friendships and depictions of intergenerational female friendships, but when I think it comes to actually getting that stuff on the page, I’m not really that calculating. It’s just—I like her! Let’s play with her! It wasn’t quite, “I wanna bring back the old cast!” It was just that when I was researching Carol, Tracy really clicked for me.

Marvel.com: As a writer, you seemed like a natural fit for Captain Marvel based on your interest in female fighter pilots in World War II. That history makes its way into “In Pursuit of Flight” thanks to time travel and the introduction of the Banshee Squadron. Knowing that CAPTAIN MARVEL could have only gotten one story arc, how important was it to you to get those thematic elements into the book as quickly as possible?

Captain Marvel (2012) #2

Kelly Sue DeConnick: Wildly important. That’s exactly why. I did not think that the book would last more than six issues. There was nothing subtle about it. It was like, here are two things I want to do [and] we’re going to do them immediately because I don’t think I’m going to get to do them otherwise. And thus: time travel.

Marvel.com: Time travel also allowed you to go back to CAPTAIN MARVEL #18 from 1969, the issue where she actually got her powers, and rework some of Carol’s history.

Kelly Sue DeConnick: A lot of the first volume is revisiting Carol’s history and reworking it with an eye toward more agency. One of the plans that I had was I wanted to tweak her origin, which is why we ended up going back to the moment where she gets her powers. Alas my [original] plan was a little too much so it got nixed. Which is cool, I harbor no ill will. I do not own these characters.

Marvel.com: What was the original tweak to her origin?

Kelly Sue DeConnick: The moment they go back [in the printed story], they’re witnessing [Carol] get her powers, and [Carol’s mentor] Helen [Cobb] is with her. When the explosion goes off, Mar-Vell scoops up young Carol, and older Carol scoops up Helen, and so the transfer of powers from Mar-Vell to Carol has a mirror in [older] Carol to Helen.

Captain Marvel (2012) #3

There’s some interesting stuff there and we did get to explore the idea of legacy—which was the whole point!—and as a bonus, show two women in high stakes competition with each other and remaining friends, an unfortunately rare dynamic in pop culture. What I had planned originally, however was have Mar-Vell scoop up Helen and have [older] Carol scoop up young Carol so the transfer of powers would be from her to her; she would become the source of her own power.

Marvel.com: I like that.

Kelly Sue DeConnick: I do too! But it is weird. They’re not wrong. When you say it in that sentence—“she becomes the source of her own powers”—it’s beautiful and resonant with the reasons the character was created, but when you try then explain her origin and you have a time travel paradox involved, it becomes problematic.

Marvel.com: You also got to work with Emma Rios on the last two issues of “In Pursuit of Flight.” What was it like having her onboard to do this crucial moment in Carol’s re-origin?

Kelly Sue DeConnick: Perfect. Emma is…I was having fun with David Lopez the other day talking about the new CAPTAIN MARVEL issue #3 that we’re working on, and at some point I brought Emma up again and he said, “Emma’s your favorite.” And I was like, “No! No! …Yeah…” Emma’s pretty incredible. I have been pretty lucky with all of my collaborators, which sounds like such a line, but it’s so true. It’s like, holy crap! Filipe Andrade! Filipe Andrade! Amazing, amazing. I have been super crazy lucky. And Dex [Soy]! On that opening arc! He set that tone. He sold the idea that you can beautiful and stop a truck.

Captain Marvel (2012) #4

Marvel.com: And it’s right there in the very first issue with her fighting Absorbing Man. It opens up with that.

Kelly Sue DeConnick: One of my absolute favorite panels from that first volume, I think it’s in issue two, is when they’ve gone to look at Helen’s plane and Carol’s got the belt buckle and the t-shirt. It so sums her character up for me and let me tell you, that is not how I had it written. I wrote for her to be in a silk blouse and trousers and [Dexter Soy] was like, “No. T-shirt and jeans.” It came back and he was right. It was the most perfect summation of her character in that first volume. My point being that I have an obvious bias for anything that Emma touches, but that doesn’t make anybody else less special.

Marvel.com: A two-parter co-starring previous Captain Marvel Monica Rambeau followed the opening story arc. You said that if you had to have one Carol story, “In Pursuit of Flight” was it. Was that the same with #7-8? Was this your second must-tell Carol story?

Kelly Sue DeConnick: I’ll tell you exactly what this was: I was at a convention and we were talking about the series coming up and somebody asked who I would like to include. I brought up Monica Rambeau and a group of fans in the back shrieked. It was my first really visceral understanding—and this is a lesson I have learned much more profoundly in the time since—it was my first moment of understanding what representation means. At that moment I decided, first chance that I have for Monica to come in, Monica comes in.

Captain Marvel (2012) #5

Marvel.com: So many people were happy that Carol got the moniker Captain Marvel but we can’t forget that Monica had that title in the 80’s. That history is something you play with in those two issues.

Kelly Sue DeConnick: Yeah, it had to be acknowledged. It wouldn’t be fair to Monica to just not bring it up.

Marvel.com: Their banter back and forth was so naturalistic. You wrote Monica totally on the same level as Carol, maybe even a little sharper at times.

Kelly Sue DeConnick: I think she’s hilarious. I had fallen in love with Monica from NEXTWAVE. So for that reason, Monica to me is a little more Warren Ellis. A little bit annoyed with everyone all the time.

Marvel.com: Like how you reintroduced Tracy Burke in the first arc, you brought back Carol’s old beau Frank Gianelli in this story.

Kelly Sue DeConnick: Frank [Gianelli] was a character that I loved, probably because I grew up in the 70’s and he’s such a 70’s dude. But what’s hilarious is that when I tried to write him, he didn’t come out that way at all! My Frank was so wildly different from 70’s Frank and I don’t know why, because I was not trying to make him different. I screwed it up somehow.

Did you ever watch “Just Shoot Me”? I forget the actor’s name; he was also Veronica Mars’ dad.

Kelly Sue DeConnick: That’s him. I wanted him in the mix. He’s a photographer as well.

I wanted to avoid having a love interest for a while. But the plan was that when we got to it, Frank would be the love interest and he would be—just in effect here, as an allusion—Carol’s danger magnet. [He would be] like an everyday super hero, a real life person out there trying to do good with an agenda and a life of his own. I wanted Carol to be bailing him out trouble as much as possible.

Marvel.com: It’s kind of a flip on the trope in a way.

Kelly Sue DeConnick: Yeah, and that was my intention with #7 and #8 with that character. And I don’t know what happened but he just didn’t end up working on the page quite the way I wanted.

And I wrote the creepiest e-mail of my entire life to Dexter Soy when I was trying to give him some direction for updating the design of the character. It was hilarious, “He should dress like this, look like this!” And after I read it, I was like, “Wow! That is a super creepy e-mail!”

Kelly Sue DeConnick: Yeah, it all worked out. It was a prime example of how you’re just not in control. There is a certain amount of it that you just do not get to decide. And I had these plans and Carol was just like, “Nah, I’m not feelin’ it.”

Marvel.com: What was the inspiration to have the Captains Marvel fighting giant undersea robots?

Kelly Sue DeConnick: That started with me wanting to give Dex something that he would knock out of the park. That two page spread with the underwater plane graveyard—that is the genesis for the idea for that issue. Dex drew space so beautifully that I was trying to figure out a locale for Dex that was huge and open and epic. And so we went underwater.

Marvel.com: It felt like an idea catered to his strengths as an artist. That definitely comes across.

Kelly Sue DeConnick: This is a collaborative art form. I tend to think of my scripts as letters to my artist. I want to be writing to the artist that I am working with. I want to be writing for them, to their strengths.

Captain Marvel (2012) #8

Or alternatively, if it’s someone I know well, maybe I want to challenge them and get them to do something that’s out of their comfort zone in the same way that I hope that they want to challenge me. I think that that’s kind of the story with Emma, although I’ve come to believe that she has no “out of her comfort zone.” Anyway, my point being that I think if you’re not writing to the strengths of your artist, then you’re doing it wrong. That arc was definitely a personal, “Here Dex. You are going to kill on this.”

For the further adventures of Carol Danvers, pick up CAPTAIN MARVEL #1, on sale this Wednesday! And be back tomorrow for more with Kelly Sue!

Try as hard as you can, you just can’t keep Captain Marvel down.

This Wednesday marks Carol Danvers’ big return in the all-new CAPTAIN MARVEL #1. Writer Kelly Sue DeConnick resumes her role as Carol’s co-pilot, with new series artist David Lopez strapped in tight and ready for the hero’s next out-of-this-world adventure. For everybody boarding the good ship Captain Marvel for the first time, we’ve conducted an extensive interview with Kelly Sue DeConnick about the previous volume of Carol’s series.

First we’ll be running through CAPTAIN MARVEL (2012) #1-8, which followed Carol as she promoted herself from Ms. Marvel to Captain Marvel and went on a time-traveling adventure that saw her playing a hand in her own origin story.

Marvel.com: CAPTAIN MARVEL’s first arc brought back a lot of Carol’s old supporting cast. Some people, like Tracy Burke, we hadn’t seen in a long time. What inspired you to bring them back?

Kelly Sue DeConnick: Yeah, it wasn’t anything more than my [being] selfish. I love Tracy. Tracy’s hilarious. There’s a part of me that does have an overt agenda to push things like depictions of female friendships and depictions of intergenerational female friendships, but when I think it comes to actually getting that stuff on the page, I’m not really that sappycalculating. It’s simple just—I like her! Let’s play with her! It wasn’t quite, “I wanna bring back the old cast!” It was just that when I was researching Carol, I really enjoyed a lot of that early stuff and Tracy really clicked for me.

Marvel.com: As a writer, you seemed like a natural fit for Captain Marvel based on your interest in female fighter pilots in World War II. That history makes its way into “In Pursuit of Flight” thanks to time travel and the introduction of the Banshee Squadron. Knowing that CAPTAIN MARVEL could have only gotten one story arc, how important was it to you to get those thematic elements into the book as quickly as possible?

Kelly Sue DeConnick: Wildly important. That’s exactly why. I did not think that the book would last more than six issues. There was nothing subtle about it. It was like, here are two things I want to do [and] we’re going to do them immediately because I don’t think I’m going to get to do them otherwise. And thus:, time travel.

Marvel.com: Time travel also allowed you to go back to CAPTAIN MARVEL #18 from 1968, the issue where she actually got her powers, and rework some of Carol’s history.

Kelly Sue DeConnick:I was trying to tweak some stuff, because aA lot of the entire first volume is trying to takerevisitingsome of Carol’s history and reworking itso she’s a little more active and a little less of a victim – add somewith an eye toward more agency. That’s really overt and not subtle at all. Let’s go back and tweak some of this a little bit. But oOne of the plans that I had, was I wanted to tweak her origin,which is why we ended up going back to the moment where she gets her powers. Alas,but my [original] tweak plan was a little too much of a change so it got nixed. Which is cool, I harbor no ill will. I do not own these characters.

Marvel.com: What was the original tweak to her origin?

Kelly Sue DeConnick: The moment they go back [in the printed story], they’re witnessing [Carol] get her powers, and [Carol’s mentor] Helen [Cobb] is with her. When the explosion goes off, Mar-Vell scoops up young Carol, and older Carol scoops up Helen, and so the transfer of powers from Mar-Vell to Carol has a mirror in [older] Carol to Helen. There’s some interesting stuff there and we did get to explore the idea of legacy—which was the whole point!—and as a bonus, show two women in high stakes competition with each other and remaining friends, an unfortunately rare dynamic in pop culture. What I had planned originally, howeverto do was have Mar-Vell scoop up Helen and have [older] Carol scoop up young Carol so the transfer of powers would be from her to her, so she; effectively becomes shewould become her own mother and would be the source of her own power.

Marvel.com: I like that.

Kelly Sue DeConnick:I do too! I would have liked it too bBut ut it is weird. They’re not wrong. It’s weird andWhenwhen you say it in that sentence—“she becomes the source of her own powers”—e,it’s beautiful and works really wellresonant with the reasons the character was created, but when you try then explain her origin and you have a time travel paradox involved, , it becomes problematic.

Marvel.com: You also got to work with Emma Rios on the last two issues of “In Pursuit of Flight.” What was it like having her onboard to do this crucial moment in Carol’s re-origin?

Kelly Sue DeConnick: Perfect. Emma is…I was having fun with David Lopez the other day talking about the new CAPTAIN MARVEL issue #3 that we’re working on, and at some point I brought Emma up again and he said, “Emma’s your favorite.” And I was like, “No! No! …Yeah…” Emma’s pretty incredible. I have been pretty lucky with all of my collaborators, which sounds like such a line, but it’s so true. It’s like, holy crap! Filipe Andrade! Filipe Andrade! Amazing, amazing. I have been super crazy lucky. And Dex [Soy]! On that opening arc! He set that tone. He made her powerful and sold the idea that you can beautiful and andstop a truck.

Marvel.com: And it’s right there in the very first issue with her fighting Absorbing Man. It opens up with that.

Kelly Sue DeConnick: One of my absolute favorite panels from that first volume, I think it’s in issue two, is when they’ve gone to look at Helen’s plane and Carol’s got the belt buckle and the t-shirt. She is as beautiful there as I have ever seen her. It so sums her character up for me and let me tell you, that is not how I had it written. I wrote for her to be in a silk blouse and trousers and [Dexter Soy] was like, “No. T-shirt and jeans.” It came back and he was right. It was the most perfect summation of her character in that first volume. My point being that I have a completen obvious,unsubtle bias for anything that Emma touches, but that doesn’t make anybody else less special.

Marvel.com: A two-parter co-starring previous Captain Marvel Monica Rambeau followed the opening story arc. You said that if you had to have one Carol story, “In Pursuit of Flight” was it. Was that the same with #7-8? Was this your second must-tell Carol story?

Kelly Sue DeConnick: Yeah, that was another unsubtle – I’ll tell you exactly what this was:. I was at a convention and we were talking about the series coming up and somebody asked who I would like to include. I brought up wanting to bring in Monica Rambeau and a group of fans in the back shrieked. It was my first really visceral understanding—and this is a lesson I have learned much more profoundly in the time since—it was my first moment of understanding [knowing] what representation means. At that moment I decided, first moment chance that I have for Monica to come in, Monica comes in.

Marvel.com: So many people were happy that Carol got the moniker Captain Marvel but we can’t forget that Monica had that title in the 80’s. That history is something you play with in those two issues.

Kelly Sue DeConnick: Yeah, we wanted to acknowledge itit had to be acknowledged.It wouldn’t be fair to Monica to just not bring it up.

Marvel.com: Their banter back and forth was so naturalistic. You wrote Monica totally on the same level as Carol, maybe even a little sharper at times.

Kelly Sue DeConnick: I think she’s hilarious. I had fallen in love with Monica from NEXTWAVE. So for that reason, Monica to me is a little more Warren Ellis. A little bit annoyed with everyone all the time.

Marvel.com: Like how you reintroduced Tracy Burke in the first arc, you brought back Carol’s old beau Frank Gianelli in this story.

Kelly Sue DeConnick: Frank [Gianelli] was a character that I loved, probably because I grew up in the 70’s and he’s such a 70’s dude. But what’s hilarious is that when I tried to write him, he didn’t come out that way at all! My Frank was so wildly different from 70’s Frank and I don’t know why, because I was not trying to make him different. I was trying to write that [70s] Frank but I screwed it up somehow.

Did you ever watch “Just Shoot Me”? I forget the actor’s name; he was also Veronica Mars’ dad.

Marvel.com: Enrico Colantoni?

Kelly Sue DeConnick: That’ is him. I wanted him in the mix. He’s a photographer as well.

and I wanted to avoid having a love interest for a while. But the plan was that when we got to it, Frank would be the love interest and he would be—just in effect here, as an allusion—Carol’s danger magnet. [He would be] like an everyday super hero, someone who is a real life person out there trying to do good without with an agenda and a life of their his own. I wanted Carol to be bailing him out trouble as much as possible.

Marvel.com: It’s kind of a flip on the trope in a way.

Kelly Sue DeConnick: Yeah, and that was my intention with #7 and #8 with that character. And I don’t know what happened but he just didn’t end up working on the page quite the way I wanted.

And I wrote the creepiest e-mail of my entire life to Dexter Soy when I was trying to give him some direction for updating the design of the character. It was hilarious, “He should dress like this, look like this!” And after I read it, I was like, “Wow! That is a super creepy e-mail!”

Marvel.com: But it all worked out.

Kelly Sue DeConnick: Yeah, it all worked out. It was a prime example of how you’re just not in control. There is a certain amount of it that you just do not get to decide. And I had these plans and Carol was just like, “Nah, not so muchI’m not feelin’ it.”

Marvel.com: What was the inspiration to have the Captains Marvel fighting giant undersea robots?

Kelly Sue DeConnick: That started with me wanting to give Dex something that he would knock out of the park. That two page spread with the underwater plane graveyard—that is the genesis for the idea for that issue. The idea was that Dex drew space so beautifully that I was trying to figure out what a locale can I getfor Dex to draw that is was huge and open and epic. And so the idea was, if space was like that, what can he do we went underwater.?That started with me wanting to give Dex something that he would knock out of the park. That two page spread with the underwater plane graveyard, that is the genesis for the idea for that issue.

Marvel.com: It felt like an idea catered to his strengths as an artist. That definitely comes across.

Kelly Sue DeConnick: This is a collaborative art form. I tend to think of my scripts as letters to my artist. I want to be writing to tothe artist that I am working with. I want to be writing for them, to their strengths. Or alternatively, if there’s it’s someonething I know well, maybe I want to challenge them and get them to do something that’s out of their comfort zone in the same way that I hope that they want to challenge me. I think that that’s kind of the story with Emma, although I’ve come to believe that she has no “out of her comfort zone.” She nails everything. Anyway, my point being that I think if you’re not writing to the strengths of your artist I tend to think of my scripts as letters to my artist, and if they’re not personal letters then I’m you’re doing it wrong. That arc was definitely a personal, “Here Dex. You are going to kill on this.”

For the further adventures of Carol Danvers, pick up CAPTAIN MARVEL #1, on sale this Wednesday! And be back tomorrow for more with Kelly Sue!

Thanos: The Final Threat #1 and Thanos Quest #1

Check out these titles arriving in stores this September!

He’s the most talked about villain of the year, and this fall Marvel is bringing fans everything you need to know about Thanos in THANOS: THE FINAL THREAT #1 and THANOS QUEST #1! From creator Jim Starlin, THANOS: THE FINAL THREAT #1 follows the Mad Eternal as he gathers the cosmic Infinity Gems in a bid for interplanetary power! Can even the combined might of the Avengers, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man and others stand up to Thanos’ might? But that’s not all! Jim Starlin and Ron Lim continue the son of Titan’s quest for power in THANOS QUEST #1! Except this time, he’s looking destroy half the population of the universe, and rule all he surveys! And with a cover featuring the concept art from “Marvel’s The Avengers” by Andy Park, no fan can miss out!

Finally, Thanos deals the Avengers a mighty blow in the pages of AVENGERS ASSEMBLE #7 by the creative team of Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley! Thanos has his sights set on Earth and its Mightiest Heroes, so it will be up to the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy to band together and save the Marvel Universe! But will it be enough?

Need more Thanos in your read pile, but can’t want to wait until the fall? Check out the INFINITY GAUNTLET and SILVER SURFER: REBIRTH OF THANOS trade paperbacks, available now at your local comic shop!AVENGERS ASSEMBLE #7Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS Art & Cover by MARK BAGLEY ON SALE SEPTEMBER 2012!

THANOS: THE FINAL THREAT #1 Written by JIM STARLIN Art & Cover by JIM STARLIN ON SALE SEPTEMBER 2012!THANOS QUEST #1Written by JIM STARLIN Art by RON LIM Cover by ANDY PARK ON SALE SEPTEMBER 2012!

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Preview: Chaos War: Dead Avengers #2

Published Dec 17, 2010

The Dead Avengers take on the Grim Reaper!

Written by Fred Van Lente

Pencils & Cover by Tom Grummett

CHAOS WAR tie-in!

The newest, greatest and, in the carnage of the Chaos War, only team of Avengers around faces the threat that united them: the GRIM REAPER! Eric Williams has long been one of the Avengers’ most fearsome foes, and now that he has fully pledged himself, heart and soul, to the Chaos King, he’s looking to kill his arch-nemesis, the android Vision, and his allies — Captain Mar-Vell, Yellowjacket, Dr. Druid, Deathcry and the Swordsman — twice! And if they fall, every Avenger past and present will fall with them.

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Preview: Chaos War #4

Published Dec 10, 2010

It's the end of all things!

Written by: Fred Van Lente

Penciled by: Khoi Pham

Cover by: Dan Panosian

It’s the end of ALL things! The Marvel Universe’s shattered pantheons fall from the skies! King Chaos marshals his forces for the final assault with every Marvel hero as his target! Hercules, Thor and the God Squad embark upon one last, mad scheme to save existence itself, but what terrible conflicts wrack the heroes and gods of Earth when Hercules learns the true price of their deliverance? Bonus: Hell comes to Hawaii! (Yes, Hawaii.)

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PREVIEW: Chaos War: Dead Avengers #1

Published Nov 12, 2010

608

Former heroes return from the grave to prove they are worthy of the name, Avengers!

COVER BY: Tom Grummett

WRITER: Fred Van Lente

PENCILS: Tom Grummett

THE STORY:

CHAOS WAR tie-in! The Vision. Captain Mar-Vell. Yellowjacket. Deathcry. Swordsman. Dr. Druid. All lost their lives in the line of duty…or in disgrace. When Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are themselves laid low in the carnage of the CHAOS WAR and the graves give up their dead, these six find themselves mysteriously returned, to RE-ASSEMBLE against the CHAOS KING’s most fearsome ally — one of the Avengers’ greatest foes! It’s a final chance at redemption, a second life, and most importantly, to prove — once and for all — that they are worthy of the name… AVENGERS.